Des limites de la notion de «choix», Fundamentalism

Commentary by Stéphanie Gaudet, sociologist, on the notion of choice, and the absence of imams in the discussion over religious obligation and choice, and some of the mixed messages that result. Messages either affirming choice or not from a faith perspective would be interesting to hear, and might flush out some of the more fundamentalist and less tolerant approaches to matters of faith.

Je pense que la Charte a été très malhabilement présentée et discutée. L’iconographie représentant l’interdiction des signes ostentatoires est grotesque et, disons-le, nous ridiculise en tant que société. Je pense toutefois qu’il faut faire une analyse critique de ce qui se passe sous nos yeux. Il y a un faux débat sur la notion de « choix » du port du voile. Les femmes laïques et musulmanes se jettent en pâture devant les médias, mais il faut se poser la question : qui est absent du débat ? À mon avis, les grands absents sont les hommes qui portent le discours musulman : les imams. Les leaders religieux qui, comme dans toutes religions à travers l’histoire, ont une emprise importante sur les discours et les modes de vies de leur communauté.

Voile, avortement, etc. – Des limites de la notion de «choix» | Le Devoir.

Andrew Sullivan of the Daily Dish on Christian fundamentalism, and how it can be equally sterile and limiting, who starts with a quote from the Pope on the importance of doubt:

If a person says that he met God with total certainty and is not touched by a margin of uncertainty, then this is not good. For me, this is an important key. If one has the answers to all the questions—that is the proof that God is not with him. It means that he is a false prophet using religion for himself. The great leaders of the people of God, like Moses, have always left room for doubt.

And then continues with his personal reflections:

I discovered my faith as a joyful, wondrous, mysterious thing. When it came time for me to go to what Americans call high school, I was enrolled for a while at a Catholic Grammar school, until my parents took me for a visit. Its dourness, brutality, darkness and rigidity made me and my parents shudder and they mercifully placed me at a Protestant high school. I think I probably owe my faith to that decision. If I had been exposed more fully to the dark side of the Catholic church and its institutions – and you only have to look at the hideous history of the church in Ireland for how dark it truly was – then I almost certainly would have rebelled completely. I have authority issues, as some readers may have noticed.

The Brittle Certainty Of Fundamentalism